I know people don't want to hear it, but when cooked correctly, wild-caught African land snails are actually delicious. They do take some work to scrub the foot pad, and you want to cook them for a long time to both soften them up, and obviously to ensure there's no parasites left. But in a Ghanaian spinach soup - amazing.
I say wild caught, because farmed snails are fed wilted lettuce, and taste like wilted, rotten lettuce.
The article only briefly mentions the horrors of rat lungworm, but if you live in a warm, tropical climate where this is prevalent (Hawaii, increasingly Florida) you really want to avoid it.
Apparently there is some evidence that people born in regions where it is more prevalent have some natural resistance.
The main way to get it is accidentally ingesting an infected slug on raw produce, like leafy greens.
I recommend reading accounts of traveling through the Amazon, like The Lost City of Z. The number of pests in rainforests that do horrifying things to the human body is astounding and the botflies are only one of them. Makes me thankful for modern conveniences like pure DEET.
Small snails look cute but 8-inch snail sounds a bit scary. Also how do they avoid being eaten by predators if they are slow and vulnerable?
Also I recently saw small slugs which were crawling on the sidewalk along with worms who get to the surface after rain. I wonder what those slugs were planning to do given its middle of October and temperature is merely 10°C (50F)?
> The snails, which actually grow to about eight inches in length, but can stretch—if nothing else, for headline-writing purposes—to nine inches, have worried Florida authorities since 1969.
One of the world's most 1EET H4X0R5, who hasn't left his parents' basement in 10 years and is rumored to be the operator of 5chan, told me that you can use archive.is to circumvent most paywalls, including that of The Atlantic.
The salt river northeast of Phoenix has been infested with apple snails from central america - they get up to 6" or so. The forest service regularly runs events where people in kayaks and on paddle boards help clear that section of river of the clumps of eggs.
OT, but giant African snails love to eat colored paper, and since their body won't absorb the pigments, they'll produce colorful excrements which can be used as experimental material: https://dornob.com/bright-blue-snail-poo-excrement-used-to-m...
I know people don't want to hear it, but when cooked correctly, wild-caught African land snails are actually delicious. They do take some work to scrub the foot pad, and you want to cook them for a long time to both soften them up, and obviously to ensure there's no parasites left. But in a Ghanaian spinach soup - amazing.
I say wild caught, because farmed snails are fed wilted lettuce, and taste like wilted, rotten lettuce.
Good flavor I can buy, but the last time I tried snails it was the texture that had me gagging.
Gift link:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/2026/10/giant-african-sn...
The article only briefly mentions the horrors of rat lungworm, but if you live in a warm, tropical climate where this is prevalent (Hawaii, increasingly Florida) you really want to avoid it.
Apparently there is some evidence that people born in regions where it is more prevalent have some natural resistance.
The main way to get it is accidentally ingesting an infected slug on raw produce, like leafy greens.
Here's a podcast on this parasite, what's known about it and how to avoid it: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-daniel-and-kellys-extraor...
I remember when those snails invaded bombay in the 80s. saw one or two, and then they were suddenly everywhere. it was amazing how fast it happened.
My personal favourite parasite is the human botfly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatobia_hominis
This bastard is a fascinating one. I mean there are others, but this one is close to my heart.
I recommend reading accounts of traveling through the Amazon, like The Lost City of Z. The number of pests in rainforests that do horrifying things to the human body is astounding and the botflies are only one of them. Makes me thankful for modern conveniences like pure DEET.
> this one is close to my heart.
That sounds dangerous - you should probably see a doctor. ;)
Small snails look cute but 8-inch snail sounds a bit scary. Also how do they avoid being eaten by predators if they are slow and vulnerable?
Also I recently saw small slugs which were crawling on the sidewalk along with worms who get to the surface after rain. I wonder what those slugs were planning to do given its middle of October and temperature is merely 10°C (50F)?
Some things eat them like opossum and foxes, but the snails spread bad parasites so animals might learn to avoid them.
They can fertilize themselves so you only need one. And they lay 1600 or so eggs a year in batches of around 200.
They are breeding machines.
"but 8-inch snail sounds a bit scary"
Avoid Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
I've lived in Seattle for 12 years and have never seen a slug here let alone a large one. I have seen those sidewalk worms after the rain, though
Banana slugs are long but not particularly large. Also, you only rarely see them in cities
These giant snails are actually also really cute
Excellent headline and graphic
Closer (just give me a few hours to get there)
Fragile, and further down the spiral, sounds like snail attributes all along. I recommend the mollusk by ween while we're on the subject.
Happiness in slithering
Terrible Slime
The Inward Spiral
my whole existence is flan
> The snails, which actually grow to about eight inches in length, but can stretch—if nothing else, for headline-writing purposes—to nine inches, have worried Florida authorities since 1969.
Delightfully self-aware.
The writer probably had to have a private moment when she realized she could use this title.
A FL county just north of Tampa has been dealing with GALS for a few years https://www.cityofnewportrichey.org/Departments/Public-Works...
https://archive.ph/CPsFp
Topic itself aside, that is some fantastic writing. A joy to read and a genuine value proposition.
That is what journalism worth its paywall looks like.
We should get Trent Reznor's opinion on these.
paywall.
One of the world's most 1EET H4X0R5, who hasn't left his parents' basement in 10 years and is rumored to be the operator of 5chan, told me that you can use archive.is to circumvent most paywalls, including that of The Atlantic.
Or, and don't take my word for it, ask Abraham Lincoln, who told me to try "reader mode" in Firefox.
The salt river northeast of Phoenix has been infested with apple snails from central america - they get up to 6" or so. The forest service regularly runs events where people in kayaks and on paddle boards help clear that section of river of the clumps of eggs.
I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home; they're not much bigger than two meters!